Stoke Climsland Farm Cluster
Proposed start date
06/02/2025
Proposed completion date
31/03/2025
Total Project Value (£)
£14,250
Farming in Protected Landscapes Funding awarded (£)
£7,500
Project Name
TV108 – Grassland sward lifter
Business / Farm Name
Stokeclimsland Farm Cluster
Town (location)
Stokeclimsland
Summary of proposal inc. proposed outputs
Purchase and provision of Grassland sward lifter equipment to Stoke Climsland Farm Cluster
The Cluster targets are to improve water quality and biodiversity, and to encourage collaboration.
Provision of this robust piece of grassland management equipment will allow significant improvement to nutrient use efficiency, water and nutrient infiltration and to soil health.
This equipment will be of use to all Cluster members.
Purchase of this machine will aid our collaboratory ethos, and ensure low key areas of grassland challenge can start to be addressed.
Of all grassland management equipment, a grassland sward lifter is straight forward to set up, use and maintain. The purchase price is relatively modest compared to other machines such as drills and deeper cultivators, with minimal ongoing costs.
Key benefits of grassland sward lifter – alleviate deeper soil compaction up to 40-50cm, ensure infiltration to improve nutrient use and prevent runoff, allow gaseous exchange with plant roots and soil organisms, alleviate soil compaction and aid soil profile restoration.
This equipment will demonstrate the benefits of improved grassland management to members, and ensure a key contribution to meeting cluster targets by improving infiltration, nutrient use efficiency, soil and plant health, and alleviating compaction.
Whilst providing this key benefit on farm we will encourage working together, and build this trust and confidence for further projects and cluster collaboration.
This project is bringing together a group of 24 collaborating farmers to allow access to key grassland management equipment which will help tackle key underlying issues of compaction, water and nutrient management and declining soil health. This will help us to improve the natural processes of our land whilst also aiding food production. The impact of changes made by this number of farmers across the large area they manage will have huge impacts within the Tamar Valley and fits well with the many of the National Landscapes priorities, with the key priorities listed below:
6.6.5 Help to support and deliver catchment scale initiatives or projects.
- Support and develop landscape-scale integrated initiatives and projects.
- Pilot environmentally and landscape sensitive farming, sustainable land management and forestry
- Seek opportunities to enhance and increase biodiversity and create nature networks.
8.6.5 Explore ecosystem services and natural capital approaches to farming and land management.
